Lamington Cupcakes with Raspberry Jam

Ok, I have been holding on to this recipe for a little while. I have been trying to find the perfect solution to my messy Aussie dilemma… I LOVE LAMINGTONS! But they are so messy. There is something beautiful in the simplicity of the sponge coated in chocolate icing and then rolled in coconut. The softness of the sponge, the chocolatey goodness and a little bit nutty. What isn’t to love?

The answer- the mess. Rolling anything tends to get a bit messy. I was trying to figure out how to share one of my Australian favourites in a way that could be easy and pretty to serve. Then I was thinking about cake, then I was thinking about cupcakes. CUPCAKES!

So after my epiphany, I decided to do a bit of research on this lovely little Aussie favourite. I was speaking to one of the lovely ladies from the Country Women’s Association (CWA) who confirmed that my idea would work and still be traditional and authentic. She did however note that the CWA recipes would not be likely to have the jam- but I like to live dangerously…

I have a recipe that is from the Australian Women’s Weekly Bake book for cloud cupcakes that have very quickly become a family favourite. I used this as a base, because it is a nice texture and I know that it is an easy and foolproof recipe. The chocolate icing is a very easy mix and the end result was delicious!

I know that these are not the most amazing looking little cakes, but I decided that since most of the world has not come to embrace the salty goodness of Vegemite- I would try and win a few people over with this other Australian recipe. Mmmmm…

Lamington Cupcakes with Raspberry Jam

Ingredients:

• 90g butter, softened
• 1 teaspoon vanilla essence
• 1/2 cup castor sugar
• 2 eggs
• 1 cup plain flour
• 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
• 2 tablespoons milk
• Raspberry jam, to taste

For the icing:

• 1 cup of confectioners (icing) sugar
• 1/4 cup boiling water
• 25g butter, melted
• 1 1/2 cups dessicated coconut

Method:

Preheat the oven to 180’C (or 160’C fan forced) and line muffin or patty pans with paper cases.

In a large bowl, cream the butter and the sugar until mixed. Add the eggs, milk, extract, flour and baking powder and beat until well combined.

Divide the mixture between the cases (I ended up with 12 muffin sized- but patty cakes would probably be easier for icing). Add a teaspoon of jam to each of the cakes and swirl through the batter with a skewer.

Bake for 20-25 minutes or until a skewer inserted into the cake comes out clean. Remove from oven and allow to cool.

For the chocolate icing- sift together the sugar and cocoa. Mix with the boiling water and butter until the icing is smooth.

For the assembly, either dip or pour the icing over the top of the cakes (this is where the smaller cake cases might be a bit easier) and the dip the coated top into the coconut. If there is too much icing, the coconut will become covered in icing in which case you just dip again. Enjoy!